Reliance Jio Crosses 50 Million Subscribers In Less Than 3 Months
Reliance Jio is close to its goal of reaching the 100 million subscriber mark.
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has crossed the 50 million subscriber mark in less than three months after its full-fledged 4G services launch to emerge as the largest broadband operator in the country.
Reliance Jio, setting a new record, Reliance Jio has acquired 1,000 customers per minute (since September 5) and 6 lakh per day, sources said.
"Reliance Jio continues to be the fastest growing company in the world and has crossed 50 million subscribers in a record 83 days," sources pointed out.
Airtel reached the same milestone of 50 million subscribers in 12 years, while Vodafone and Idea took 13 years each.
Reliance Jio – the new entrant in the 4G market which is competing with the likes of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular – had launched its commercial services on September 5, and as per the last update had notched up 16 million users in the first month of its operation. Its subscriber base has already reached one-fifth that of Bharti Airtel, which had 262.67 million mobile subscribers in October. According to the latest data by telecom operators’ body Cellular Operators Association of India, Vodafone had 201.90 million subscribers and Idea Cellular 180.25 million users as of last month.
"Beating industry estimates, the company has signed up an average of 6 lakh subscribers a day, which is a globally unprecedented feat for any customer-facing company including the likes of Whatsapp, Facebook and Skype," the source pointed out.
Sources claimed that Reliance Jio has become India's largest digital services operator with the highest number of mobile broadband users surpassing telecom major Airtel's 41 million 3G and 4G customers combined acquired over the last six years. Only on 4G to 4G comparison, the company's customer base is now five times that of Airtel (around 10 million subscribers); 17 times that of Idea (3 million subscribers).
At Reliance Industries’ 42nd annual general meeting, Ambani had said his new telecom venture would aim to acquire 100 million customers "in the shortest possible time and create a new world record".
This would translate into a data usage of 250 crore gigabyte per month, he'd pointed out.
Reliance Jio, whose controversial entry into the world's second-largest telephony market sparked off a tariff war, acquired 1.5 million users on its 4G network during the testing phase. It is aggressively competing with players such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone and is offering users data services free till December 31, 2016, if they buy a Reliance Jio connection by December 3, 2016.
From January 1, 2017 the data services will become chargeable with rates starting at Rs 19 a day for occasional data users, Rs 149 a month for low data users and Rs 4,999 a month for heavy data subscribers. Reliance Jio has promised to keep voice and roaming services, free for life.
Read: Reliance Jio Knocks On Competition Regulator’s Door Against Vodafone, Airtel, And Idea
